There is "absolute fury" amongst most Galway pharmacists with the Health Service Executive (HSE) and there has been a "complete breakdown of trust", which has been highlighted by the recent methadone crisis.

That's according to Tuam pharmacist, Darragh O'Loughlin, who is a representative of the Irish Pharmaceutical Union (IPU).

As a result of the current stand-off between the HSE and the IPU, local pharmacists will no longer be able to dispense medical card drugs by December, according to Mr O'Loughlin.

The stark warning comes after Mr O'Loughlin, of the Medwell Pharmacy in Tuam, told the Galway Independent that while the methadone dispensing protest was confined to the Dublin area, there was "a lot of anger" in Galway.

Galway pharmacists met with local politicians this week to vent their frustration at the current situation. They met with Deputy Michael D Higgins and Deputy Noel Grealish to voice their concerns.

They have fears over recent changes made by the HSE to the wholesale cost of drugs. This will have a knock-on effect for local pharmacists in dispensing medical card drugs, according to the IPU. Reform of the public drugs payment scheme will save the HSE up to €100 million a year. However, it insists pharmacists will not be out of pocket.

Pharmacists also have concerns about the administration of the methadone scheme, which led to last week's protest in Dublin and Wicklow. Up to 140 pharmacists withdrew their methadone dispensing services for heroin addicts in Dublin and Wicklow affecting up to 3,000 patients.

This week, the IPU called on their members to resume the service. The union came under fire over the dispute due to the impact it was having on recovering drug addicts. While local methadone services continued as normal, this was due partly to the fact that there are no HSE-run methadone clinics in the city, according to Mr O'Loughlin.

"In Dublin, the HSE run their own dispensing clinics, but there are none outside the Dublin area. "The HSE prescribes methadone in Galway but it is up to the pharmacists to dispense it. There was a fall-back in Dublin with the HSE clinics but there is no such facility in Galway.

"Having spoken to a lot of pharmacists in Galway, most have said they are determined not to be walked over and want the HSE to enter into negotiations immediately."

Mr O'Loughlin said a number of factors have contributed to the breakdown of trust with the HSE. Local pharmacists who dispense methadone were promised a vaccination against Hepatitis B by the HSE. This has not been delivered, according to Mr O'Loughlin.